Brick end-of-terrace gable beside a limestone house, slate roofs

Roofers in Potterne

Tile, slate, lead and chimney work in Potterne, from the timber-framed buildings of the High Street to red-brick cottages and the newer streets south of Devizes.

Get a quote Call 01793 626096

Potterne's roofs, from Porch House to Eastwall brick

Timber-framed house with a tiled roof — The High Street and its timber frames

Porch House on the High Street dates from about 1480, a close-studded timber-framed house on an ashlar plinth, and it carries Grade I listing. Potterne was long an estate of the Bishops of Salisbury, and cloth working mattered here in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Timber-framed houses need roofs that let the structure breathe and shed water cleanly, because a leak into an old frame rots oak slowly and out of sight. On the older High Street properties, the sensible approach is cautious: find the source of the water, repair that, and keep as much original fabric as the building will allow.

Red brick house with a chimney stack — Red brick and the parish's brickworks

The county's community history records red brick at Eastwall, rebuilt in brick in 1772, and brickworks operating in the south of the parish. A brick house may be roofed in clay tile or slate, and its brick chimney stacks will have weathered for generations. On a stack the pointing is the first thing to give, then the mortar cap, and finally the lead flashing at the roofline. A survey from the ridge, not the pavement, shows which of the three has failed. Brick walls and the roofs on them tolerate each other well when gutters work and the verges are sound. When they do not, damp creeps into the brick and shows as staining on the inside of a chimney breast.

Modern tiled house with a garage — Later houses on the greensand

Potterne sits on Gault and Upper Greensand between the chalk of the Marlborough Downs and Salisbury Plain, about two miles south of Devizes. The village has grown over the centuries, and the streets away from the High Street hold twentieth-century and newer homes with ordinary pitched roofs, garages and extensions. The faults on these roofs are familiar ones: ridge tiles hanging on old mortar, tiles split by winter weather, felt that has turned brittle, and low flat roofs on back extensions where water has begun to sit. These are the repairs where a short, accurate survey saves the most money.

From Swindon to the greensand village

Distance: 22 road miles south-south-west of central Swindon
Council: Wiltshire Council
Council: Wiltshire Council
Conservation area: Potterne
Setting: Greensand village on the A360, south of Devizes

Potterne roof questions

How do you repair the roof of a timber-framed house like Porch House?

Carefully. We trace the leak first, repair only that area, protect the frame below, and keep original tiles where they will serve. Anything listed is discussed with you, and the council is consulted, before work begins.

Why do red-brick chimney stacks in Potterne leak?

Usually the pointing, the flaunching or the lead at the base has worn out. Brick itself lasts, so the repair is normally to the joints and flashings, not a rebuild of the whole stack.

Is Potterne's conservation area a problem for new roof coverings?

Only if the new material differs from the old. For a change of material, or anything about a listed building, put the question to Wiltshire Council.

What do Potterne's historic roofs need?

Clay tile roof opened to battens and membrane for repair

Long flat roof on a 1960s brick building being re-covered

The short answer

Patient diagnosis and as little disturbance as possible. Potterne's oldest buildings include a Grade I timber-framed house and a Grade I church, and roofs like those are repaired by tracing the real fault, keeping original materials, and avoiding any change that alters how the building looks.

The Bishops of Salisbury held Potterne, and Domesday records the estate with six mills. Two buildings stand out from that long history: Porch House, a timber-framed house of about 1480, and St Mary's church, a thirteenth-century building of rubble stone with ashlar on the upper tower. Both are listed at Grade I, the highest category.

How do you read an old Potterne roof?

An old roof often looks worse than it is. Sagging lines, uneven courses and a patchwork of repairs are common on buildings that have stood for centuries, and they do not always mean the roof is failing. What matters is whether water gets through. We look for slipped tiles, open joints around chimneys, rotten battens and light showing through where it should not.

How much of a Grade I-era roof can be kept?

On a historic building, new for old is the last resort. Tiles that are still good come off, get sorted by condition, and go back on. Rotten timber is replaced piece by piece rather than wholesale. Lead is renewed in a code that suits the detail, and the finished roof should look as though it has always been there. Our roof repairs page sets out when a repair is enough, and our lead roofing page covers the metal details.

Everyday houses in the village get the same treatment on a smaller scale. A quick fix that hides a fault for one winter is not what we aim for. Instead we report the cause, show you photographs of the problem and put the cost of dealing with it into the written quote.

Roofs on older houses also ask for a different pace of work. Weather decides the order of things, scaffold has to go up where an old wall can bear it, and some repairs have to wait for dry conditions so that timber and mortar are not set back by a wet week. We plan each job around the building, and we say what the programme looks like when the quote arrives.

If your house is old, say so when you contact us, and mention anything you already know about its history. Details such as a previous owner's repair, a change of covering decades ago or a patched-in extension help us plan the survey before we arrive.

Why do Potterne's brick chimneys fail at the top?

The answer

Because the top of a stack takes the worst of the weather. Pointing washes out, the mortar cap cracks, and flashings at the roofline curl away. The brick below is usually sound, so the repair is normally limited to the joints, the flaunching and the flashings rather than a rebuild.

Red brick is part of Potterne's story: Eastwall was rebuilt in brick in 1772, and brickworks once operated in the south of the parish. On a brick house, the chimney stack is where many leaks begin.

What are pointing and flaunching on a brick stack?

Pointing is the mortar filling the joints between bricks. Over decades rain and frost wash it out, leaving gaps. Flaunching is the sloping cap of mortar at the head of the stack, in which the pots sit, and its job is to throw rain outwards. Once it cracks, water runs straight down inside the stack. Re-pointing and re-flaunching are small jobs next to a rebuild, and our chimney repairs page explains when each is the right answer.

Why does lead fail where a stack meets the roof?

Where the stack passes through the roof, lead flashings seal the joint. Old lead splits at its folds and lifts at the edges, and a stack may need steps of lead cut into each course of brick. Renewing it properly means cutting into the brickwork so the lead is held firmly, rather than smearing sealant over a gap and hoping it holds.

When does a Potterne stack need more than repair?

Sometimes the brickwork itself has failed. Bricks spall, the stack leans, or the mortar has gone deep. Then the choice is to rebuild the upper courses in matching brick. A leaning stack is a danger as well as a source of leaks, and we tell you plainly if it needs to come down. Removing a chimney breast from inside the house is a different job entirely. It always needs Building Regulations approval, and a breast that backs onto the house next door brings in a party wall notice too.

A set of photographs from the survey lets you see what we see, which matters when a stack stands high above the garden and you cannot judge its condition from the ground. We can also explain what each picture shows over the phone or on WhatsApp, so nobody has to guess at the answer.

Our view

Mend the joints and flashings first; rebuild a stack only when its brickwork is beyond saving.

Who decides about roof work in Potterne's conservation area?

Roof window fitted into a brown tiled roof slope

Roofer repointing a stone chimney stack above lead flashing

The short answer

Planning questions, including those for the Potterne conservation area and its listed buildings, go to Wiltshire Council. Matching repairs seldom involve an application. A larger re-roof may bring in Building Regulations, which Wiltshire Council's building control team or a registered building control approver handles.

The council's conservation area record for Potterne is the reference point for the village. Being inside it does not stop you maintaining your roof.

What needs planning permission near Porch House?

Laying the same covering again is upkeep, and upkeep does not usually need planning permission. A changed material, a new roof window on a prominent slope or a different chimney design could, so ask Wiltshire Council before you commit. Listed buildings like Porch House are covered by listed building consent whenever the work would alter what makes them special.

Does St Mary's follow the same rules?

St Mary's belongs to the Church of England, and a church still used for worship comes under the ecclesiastical exemption, so a faculty is sought in place of consent from the council. The exemption is limited to named denominations under the 2010 Order, and it falls away if a church is made redundant.

Which building control route serves Potterne?

On the Planning Portal's figures, repairs or re-covering normally escape a building control application while less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected. Once either limit is passed the roof may have to be brought up to Part L insulation standards, and a new covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval. For Potterne, building control comes from Wiltshire Council's building control team, or a registered building control approver. We explain the consent and handle the notification on notifiable jobs.

Our roof replacement page explains the jobs where those thresholds come into play.

Bats and nesting birds are protected, and an old roof space may hold them, so we stop and take advice if we find signs of either.

Who to ask in Potterne

Question	Who answers
Planning and conservation area	Wiltshire Council
Listed building consent	Wiltshire Council
Church in use for worship	Church of England faculty system
Building control	Wiltshire Council's building control team, or a registered approver

Roofing services in Potterne

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from the A360 and the High Street

Why might a Potterne timber-framed house leak after a re-tile?

Usually because the fault was at a junction, not in the field of tiles. Water follows the timber, and a new covering over a bad chimney flashing or valley does nothing for the leak. That is why a survey looks at every junction first and the quote targets the actual cause.

Do you work on houses built from the local red brick?

Yes. Brick houses are a staple of roof repair work, and their chimneys, verges and gutters are all within what we do. We match tiles and bricks by colour and texture as closely as the stock allows, so a repair blends in.

Can you reach Potterne from Swindon easily?

Potterne is within our 30-mile area, and we travel to the village from Swindon with the equipment for the survey. If you tell us about the roof when you call, we arrive prepared and the visit is quicker.

What happens if you find bats in the roof?

We stop, make the area safe and take advice before going on. Bats and their roosts are protected, and old buildings in a village like this are the kind of place they favour. Work resumes once we know how to proceed lawfully.

Ask us about your roof

Tell us what’s happening and we’ll call you back.

Photos of what we find
A written quote
10-year workmanship guarantee

Or call 01793 626096